It happened in the fourth quarter as Payne was defending Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. Jokic positioned himself to set the screen on Payne, but Murray changed direction with his dribble. While trying to stay with Murray, Payne ran into Jokic's midsection and appeared to slip his arm into Jokic's crotch, which caused the big man to drop to the floor and curl up in pain.
Nikola Jokic went down after a hit to the groin by Cam Payne.
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 6, 2023
After review, there was no further penalty on Payne for the play.pic.twitter.com/V1pl3Wnszo
Play was stopped a couple of seconds later as Payne was called for a personal foul while attempting to steal the ball from Murray. That gave the officials a moment to review the play to see if it was worthy of a flagrant 2, which would lead to an ejection. Dillon Brooks was assessed with a flagrant 2 when he hit LeBron James in the groin earlier in this year's playoffs. This time around, however, the officials did not even call Payne for a flagrant 1, which essentially gave him a pass for the low blow on Jokic.
Payne finished with 7 points and 6 assists, but Kevin Durant and Devin Booker led the way to a 121-114 Suns victory to cut the Nuggets series lead to 2-1. The loss, combined with the cheap shot, should make Jokic a bit angry. We will see how that plays out during the rest of the series.
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